Game apparatus including target, projectile, and playing court

ABSTRACT

A game apparatus comprising a court upon which the game is played, a goal and a missile. A player stands behind a boundary line on the court which is spaced from the goal and throws the missile at the goal. The missile comprises a head and a tail which are connected together in a manner to allow universal movement therebetween. In throwing the missile, the player grips the tail and throws the missile in an underhanded throwing motion. The missile can be thrown to follow trajectories ranging from a trajectory in which the head leads the tail throughout its path to the goal to a trajectory in which the head and tail tumble one over the other. A score is kept depending upon the final resting place of the missile, i.e., the missile within the goal, the head within the goal and the tail without the goal, the tail within the goal and the head without the goal, the missile without the goal.

United States Patent Lehman [is] 0 3,685,826 1 Aug.'22', 1972 [54] GAME APPARATUS INCLUDING TARGET, PROJECTILE, AND PLAYING COURT [72] Inventor: Kenneth W. Lehman, 7636 Adams Center Road, Fort Wayne, lnd.

[22] Filed: April 13, 1970 [21] Appl. No.: 27,836

[52] US. Cl ..273/95 R, 273/106 R, 273/105 R [51] Int. Cl. ..A63b 63/00 [58] Field of Search..... 273/95 R, 95 A, 95 H, 102 R,

273/102 S, 105 R, 106 R, 58C

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,797,924 7/1957 Stewart.... ..273/106 R 3,540,734 11/1970 Temple ..273/105 R 3,114,550 12/1963 Hughes ..273/106 R 3,469,844 9/1969 Sindelar ..273/ 105 R Primary Examiner-Richard C. Pinkham Assistantv ExaminerMarvin Siskind Att0rneyl-lood, Gust, Irish & Lundy ABSTRACT A game apparatus comprising a court upon which the game is played, a goal and a missile. Aplayer stands behind a boundary line on the court-which is spaced from the goal and throwsthe missile atthe goal. The

missile comprises a head and a tail which are connected together in a manner to allow universal movement therebetween. ln throwing the missile, the player grips the tail and throws the missile in an underhanded throwing motion; The missile can be thrown to follow trajectories ranging from a trajectory in which the head leads the tail throughout its path to the goal to a trajectory in which the head and tail tumble one over the other. A score is kept depending upon the final resting place of the missile, 'i.e., the missile within the goal, the head within the goal and the tail without the goal, the tail within the goal and the head without the goal, the missile without the goal.

6 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures PAIENTEDmszz 1972 N, A A 0 vw mm E M N E 8 2 Y B.

FIG-5 ATTORNEYS.

GAME APPARATUS INCLUDING TARGET, PROJECTILE, AND PLAYING COURT BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The invention relates to a game apparatus, and more particularly to a game apparatus of the type which includes a goal and a missile which is played by throwing the missile at the goal.

2. Description of the Prior Art Game apparatus comprising a goal and a missile, and games which are played by throwing a missile at a goal heretofore have been proposed. The present invention comprises a novel missile and goal. To throw the missile at the goal in a manner which consistently results in a high score requires novel skills on the 'part of the player. It is therefore highly desirable to provide this improved game apparatus, the playing of which results in fun and excitement.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is therefore the primary object of this invention to provide an improved game apparatus.

Another object of this invention is to provide an improved game apparatuscomprising a missile having a head and a tail connected together in a manner allowing universal movement therebetween.

2 DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring to the drawings, the game apparatus of the invention comprises a missile 10,'a goal 12, and a court 14. The court 14 comprises an elongated surface 15 having opposite end portions 16 and 18. Within portion 5 if the missile l0 completely misses the goal l2.- 1

Yet another object of thisinvention is to provide an Improved game apparatus comprlsmg a goal and a 30 .36 of the fixture 32 is connected to one end 38 of a court, the goal having a rim supported abovethe court and a bag supported on the rim, the rim holding the bag Preferably, the court surface is flat, and may be the ground surface or-the floor'surface of a recreation room. Also, preferably, the distance between position 22 and the boundary is from about 15 to about feet.

The missile 10 comprises a tail 26 and a head 28.

Both the tail 26 and head28 are molded of plastic. material, made of papier mache, or formed of other cord 40.

Cord 40 in a specific embodiment is a braided cord of polyethylene material. However, in other specific missile is thrown in playing the game, the throwing of the missile requiring novel skills on the part of a player, to result in consistently high scores whereby playing the game results in both fun and excitement.

In the broader aspects of this invention there is provided a missile having a head and a tail connected together in a manner allowing universal movement therebetween, a court, and a goal.

The above-mentioned and other features and objects of this invention and the manner of attaining them will become more apparent and the invention itself will be best understood by reference to the following description of an embodiment of the invention taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the playing court, the goal and the missile of the game apparatus of the invention, showing a player playing the game;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged perspective view, partially broken-away, of the missile of the invention, illustrating the means by which the head and the tail of the missile are connected together;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view of the missile taken substantially along the section line 33 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the missile taken substantially along the section line 4444 of FIG. 2; and

FIG. 5 is a view of the goal of the invention embodiments, a length of chain, or other devices allowing universal movement between the tail 26 and the head 28 may be used.

Head 28 at end 42 has a fixture 44 embedded therein. Fixture 44 may be identical in all respects to fixture 32. Cord 40 is secured to portion 36 of fixture 44 at end 46. Ends 32'and 46. are the opposite ends of cord 40.

In a preferred embodiment, the cord 40 is chosen with a length such that the dimension Y between the tail 26 and the head 28 when the court 40 is held taut is from about 3 to-about 6 inches. In a specific embodiment, dimension Y is about five inches.

As above-mentioned, a chain, or other device allowing universal movement between tall 26 and the head 28, may be substituted for cord 40. While this is'true,

whatever device is used to connect head 28 and tail 26,

the device must be relatively incapable of self-supportand highly flexible. For example, if a braided polyethylene cord is used, it is preferable that the cord I chosen will be incapable of self-support when held at one end thereof in lengths longer than 6 inches. Any other device used to connect head 28 and tail 26 should have, at a minimum, this flexibility; greater flexibility being preferred.

Still referring to missile 10, both the head 28 and the tail 26 have a predetermined weight and size. In the specific embodiment illustrated, the head 28 and'the' this invention has a grip portion 48 which the player grips when throwing the missile 10. In the specific embodiment illustrated, portion 48 is of a smaller size th the remaining portion of tail 26. (See FIG. 3).

2 Goal 12 comprises a rim 50 supported above the surface 15 of the court 14'by a plurality of legs 52. Supported on the rim 50 is a bag 54. Bag 54, in a specific embodiment, may be made of net material, as illustrated. The rim 50 functions to hold the bag 54 open. In the specific embodiment shown, the rim 50 defines an opening 53 to the bag 54 in-a plane which is generally parallel to the court surface 15." However, it'should beunderstood that the rim may be placed in a position in which the plane of the opening 53 will not be parallel to the surface 15, if desired.

In a specific embodiment of the goal- 12, the rim 50 may have a diameter of about fifteen inches andmay be elevated above the surface 15 about eighteen inches.

' In another specific embodiment, the goal 12 is a fishermans landing net having arim 52 which is oval in shape with a minimum dimension of 14%inches and a maximum dimension of 22 inches. The rim of the landing net is also, in this embodiment, mounted above the surface 15 about l8inches. Eachof the nets disclosed has a vertical center line 24 which passes through the center of the opening 53. In accordance with [the disclosure hereinabove, the goal 12 is positioned 'on the court 14 such that the center line 24 passes through the position 22 on the court.

In operation, the game apparatus disclosed herein may be used in playing a game in which a player stands behind the boundary line 20 and throws the missile 10 at the goal 12. The game may be played by either two or four people at one time. When'only twoare playing, each opponent must throw missiles 10 at the same goal 12. Each player has two missiles 10. Each player throws both of his missiles before his opponent throws a missile.

, The missiles 10 are held by the grip portion 48 of the tail 26 and are thrown underhanded in a motion similar to pitching horseshoes. By appropriately timing the release of the missile, the missile can be made to travel in a trajectory in which the head 28 leads the tail 26 in an extended position such as shown in FIG. 2 during the entire flight of the missile from the player to the goal 12. The missile 10 can also be thrown such that the head and tailtumble slowly one over the other as the missile 10 travels between the player and the goal 12.

A score is kept based upon whether or not the entire missile 10 lands within the goal 12, without the goal 12, or is suspended on the rim 0 with the head 28 within the goal l2 and tail 26 without the goal 12 or the tail 26 within the. goal l2 and the head 28 without the goal 12. In a specific embodiment, the scoring may be as follows: the whole missile within the goal being 3 points, the whole missile 10 being without the goal being 0 points, and the missile 10 being draped over the rim of the goal with thehead 2,8 within'the goal and the tail 26 without the goal or-the tail '26 within the goal and thehead 28 without the goal resulting in 2 points being subtracted from the total points of the player. The players in this embodiment may nullify their opponents score by matching the throw. The first player to exceed 22 points is the winner.

The game apparatus of this invention provides a missile, a court and goal for a new game. Throwing the missile 10 at the goal 12 requires novel skills to result in the missile 10 being thrown consistently accurately. Thus, the result is a new and novel game which is fun and exciting to play. Further, thegmissile 10 may be thrown either indoors or outdoorsand' may be made of materials such that it may be thrown without endangering an opponent.

While there have been described .above the principles of this invention in connection with specific apparatus, it is to be clearly understood that thisjdescription is made only by way of example and not as a limitation to the scope of the invention.

What is claimed-is:

l. A game apparatus comprising a missile having'a goal, said throwing boundary being in the other of said.

end portions, said goal having a rim supported above said court, the distance between said boundary and the center of said goal being from about l5 to about 25 feet, the rim defining an opening therein having a minimum dimension measuring from about 14 to about 22 inches, a bag supported on said rim, said rim holding said bag open, said rim havinga cross-section, said cross-section having a maximum dimension which is less than the length of said elongated member.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said means comprises an elongated and flexible member having op posite ends, one of said member ends being connected to said head, the other of said member ends being connected to said tail, said member being incapable of selfsupport in lengths greater than 6 inches.

3. The apparatus of claim 2 wherein said member is from about 3 to about 6 inches long.

4. The apparatus of claim 3 wherein said head and tail weigh from about 3 to about 4 ounces, and said head weighs more than 2.5 and less than 4 ounces.

5. The apparatus of claim 4 wherein said tail is smaller in size than said head,,and at least a portion of said tail is of a size which can be conveniently gripped by a player throwing the missile. 6. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said means comprises an elongated and flexible member'having op- I I being from about 3 to about 6 inches long, said head and tail weighing from about 3 to about 4 ounces, said head weighing more than 2.5 and less than 4 ounces, said tail being smaller in size than said head, and said tail having at least a portion thereof of a size which can 5 be conveniently gripped by a player throwing the rnissile. 

1. A game apparatus comprising a missile having a head and a tail, said head having a predetermined weight, said tail also having a predetermined weight, said head weight being heavier than said tail weight, means connecting said head and tail for allowing universal movement therebetween whereby said head and tail can move relatively independently of each other when said missile is thrown, a playing court and a goal, said court being elongated and having opposite end portions, said goal being positioned in one of said end portions, and a throwing boundary behind which a player must stand to play a game with said missile and goal, said throwing boundary being in the other of said end portions, said goal having a rim supported above said court, the distance between said boundary and the center of said goal being from about 15 to about 25 feet, the rim defining an opening therein having a minimum dimension measuring from about 14 to about 22 inches, a bag supported on said rim, said rim holding said bag open, said rim having a cross-section, said crosssection having a maximum dimension which is less than the length of said elongated member.
 2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said means comprises an elongated and flexible member having opposite ends, one of said member ends being connected to said head, the other of said member ends being connected to said tail, said member being incapable of self-support in lengths greater than 6 inches.
 3. The apparatus of claim 2 wherein said member is from about 3 to about 6 inches long.
 4. The apparatus of claim 3 wherein said head and tail weigh from about 3 to about 4 ounces, and said head weighs more than 2.5 and less than 4 ounces.
 5. The apparatus of claim 4 wherein said tail is smaller in size than said head, and at least a portion of said tail is of a size which can be conveniently gripped by a player throwing the missile.
 6. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said means comprises an elongated and flexible member having opposite ends, one of said member ends being connected to said head, the other of said member ends being connected to said tail, said member being incapable of self-support in lengths greater than 6 inches, said member being from about 3 to about 6 inches long, said head and tail weighing from about 3 to about 4 ounces, said head weighing more than 2.5 and less than 4 ounces, said tail being smaller in size than said head, and said tail having at least a portion thereof of a size which can be conveniently gripped by a player throwing the missile. 